Back at camp, following inspection, ‘Super Scout’ was the new activity which occupied the rest of the Scout's day.
Every Scout competed as an individual and needed to partake in a number of physical, mental agility, knots, and common sense tests. The first test was the bleep test: a test used by the police and army to determine the fitness level of an individual. Most Scouts were extremely competitive and pushed themselves to the limits trying to score the best result possible – even Mark and Tom (leaders) joined in the competition. This was followed by a mental agility/lateral thinking test where the Scouts needed to answer 20 question in five minutes. This tested their reading ability and comprehension skills.
The third and fourth round were more fitting for the Scouts. They needed to recognise and identify as many map symbols as they could in two minutes, and then they needed to recall the names of as many of the displayed 25 British birds within two minutes.
The fifth test was about accuracy when throwing whilst the sixth and final test was a knot tying time trial where each Scout needed to tie a reef knot, sheet bend, fisherman’s knot, clove hitch and Timber hitch. The two PLs set the benchmark but their competition was fierce. Sam did his five knots in 1 minute and 11 seconds however Erika, Scout leader, stunned all as she completed the five knots in 37 seconds!
When the scores from all six rounds were collated, the podium positions were announced. James Waters, with an impressive 87 points, was named Super Scout 2014 closely followed by Poppy Milner and Sam MacKenzie who both achieved a silver medal and Chris Hewins closely following them in third place.
Meanwhile, at Cod Law Farm, a large field open to the elements, the Seniors were attempting to pitch two hike tents - one of which they had carried with them all day (as well as the poles, ration packs, a stove, a kettle, clothing and any other personal belongings).
The Seniors had not walked the planned 15 miles because the useless Senior leader – who will remain nameless to save him from embarrassment – dropped the Seniors off in the wrong place; approximately 3½ miles from the youth hostel where they were supposed to start. The shortened route confused the Seniors at first however once they reached Walwick, they realised that they couldn’t have travelled that far in under a hour (even at their pace), and the mistake the Senior leader made came to light.
To pass the time on the walk, the Seniors stopped ramblers who were mooching along Hadrian's wall and insisted that they got a photo taken with Lishman, the group bear who – to Neil’s dismay - had been brought on the journey. Everyone they passed was up for the photo opportunity and Lishman enjoyed having his photograph taken both with people and in death defying positions along the wall.
The Seniors stopped off for lunch at a place of great significance to all Scouts; the BP monument which marks the location where Baden Powell held his first official Scout camp. They took pictures in front of the stone monument and then ate their ham and cheese sandwiches sat on the sanctified ground.They continued walking through the afternoon, dodging intermittent showers until they arrived at their final destination where Alec had been kind enough to leave one tent and a water carrier quarter filled of water.
Once the tents were pitched, half of the four explored the field and accompanying woods whilst the other two boiled water on the stove to cook the military ration packs which were brought to camp especially for the Senior’s overnight hike. They were convenient because they came in small boxes which didn't take up much space and they contained a wide variety of food and powdered drinks however some of the meals lacked taste.
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| Scouts in the marquee for the 'X Fire' |
In the meantime, Lishman, with the Seniors, was raving long into the night… and he raved hard.
